Town man takes the plunge for Comic Relief

Adam Craig.

FOR those of you that buckle at the knees when going over a high bridge or who tremble when they look up at a skyscraper, you might sympathise with how Adam Craig is feeling.

The Lurgan man has decided to face his fear of heights by plunging 11,000 feet out of a plane, in a charity skydive to raise cash for Comic Relief.

A former employee of TK Maxx Craigavon, Adam still keeps on top of their charity fundraising and tries to help out best he can. When the team approached him to sign up to the Comic Relief skydive Adam said yes before he really had an opportunity to confront his fear of heights.

He said: “Heights are a complete fear. If I don’t look down, I’ll be fine. When I worked at a summer camp in 2005 at New Jersey, America, we visited a theme park and not once did I even dream of going on a rollercoaster. Strangely, I’d say yes to a skydive at 11,000 feet, but no to a rollercoaster.”

D-day for Adam is March 20 at the Geese Activity Centre, Coleraine and it’s a day with plenty of prep to make sure it all goes smoothly.

He said: “Basically, it’s a bit of training from the instructors on what’s going to happen and some advice on how to land (safely). That’s followed by a 10-minute flight up in the air and then pushed out the side door free falling for about 2,000 feet, then the parachute hopefully opens – or at least one of the three.

“I should note that I will be attached to a professional Skydiver and won’t be going alone, at least that takes the pressure off,” he added.

Since becoming an official partner of Comic Relief in 2005, TK Maxx have raised over £9.3million to date. The staff took it up at notch in 2011 when they raised over £400,000 through their own fundraising and collected £610,000 in £1 donations at their tills. Adam says he still draws inspiration from the team and that’s why he was keen to stay on board with their fundraising efforts.

He said: “I worked for TK Maxx Craigavon from 2006-2010 and as the company is a main sponsor for Comic Relief, it was through them that I gained an interest in ‘doing something funny for money’ and getting as much sponsorship as possible to transform lives, not only in less fortunate countries, but also within the UK. Since leaving the company I re-connected voluntarily with them in the 2011 campaign and again this year to fundraise.”

The Lurgan man has already beat his target of raising £500 in just three weeks, thanks to the generosity from family and friends. However, he doesn’t want to stop there as he hopes sponsorship money will soar past the £1,000 mark by the end of February.

In the meantime, tactics employed by Adam to keep his anxiety at bay, seem to be recruiting moral support and keeping a humorous approach.

He said: “As far as I’m aware, there’s a team of six or seven of us so there’ll be plenty of people for moral support. I have said however that I won’t go first – I just want to make sure everything goes according to plan and anything that’s main purpose is to ‘open’ does so.

“I’ll be sure to send a photo into the Lurgan Mail so everyone can see proof I actually did it,” he added.

If you would like to sponsor Adam get in touch with him via Twitter @adamcraiguk, Facebook/acraig88, email craiga@live.co.uk or phone him on 0771 466 9841.